Re: 7.5 month biting at beginning of session

I keep signing but getting dad or grandparents to do it seems like I'm asking them to make balloon animals for a dog. They push the words. That's fine. I did a little more reading on the signing and he's right where most are right now. I just showed him a few signs & figured he'd get them with repetition. Found some more useful information on how to progress his knowledge. My smart hands is just an adorable site and has a fantastic phone app!

He had a really rough night according to dad & is visibly incredibly upset over the new slow flow breastflow bottle. But, was willing to attempt nursing today. Once I get home from work we stay in bed & I keep the boobs readily accessible. I had to offer but he nestled in once, didn't bite, opened mouth like normal, didn't latch so didn't get anything but didn't scream, cry, bite, just sat there for a moment like he was thinking or remembering. Then off to playing again! The break from continual biting has helped it heal so that probably helps, too.

Starting to get frustrated when most information out there is for younger babies and that keep stating strikes will usually only last a few days. His strikes have never lasted a few days, mostly 1-2 weeks (probably due to my odd work hours). If I wasn't more confident or knowledgeable, I'd probably have given up by now. Damned liking having a roof over our heads & food in the refrigerator.

Re: 7.5 month biting at beginning of session

It's fine if you are the only one signing. I was the only one (DH on occasion) and my son picked up on it just fine. Your baby is still very young. Both signs and words can take a long time so just keep working on it and don't worry.

It sounds like the bottle strategies you have in place are working too! That will also probably take a little time, but it sounds really promising! You are awesome for persisting through all of this! Good luck!

Re: 7.5 month biting at beginning of session

Thanks! It helps to get encouragement. The first strike was devastating so it gets easier each time he does it. Also think it's the universe saying we can't get off that easily since we started so great & have never had to deal with the awful stuff like thrush, infections, plugs. Calma nipple should be arriving tomorrow & my work break starts Wednesday so we get 6 whole days of nothing but us time which will likely resolve everything. This little guy has taught me nothing if not patience but, confidence comes with that, too, so it's a great trade off.

Re: 7.5 month biting at beginning of session

When is it really TOO late for getting him back to breast? It's been a refusal or bite every single time. Try to imagine getting refused, making your child cry or him making you cry 8-10 times a day for a month. Getting very discouraged & tired of being rejected or bitten at every single offer. Decided my nipple was a teething ring today . New Calma nipple was working well for the first few days but the vacuum seal seems to have lost some tension & it now drips slowly just like every other bottle. & now have lipase (? or something else) issue that he doesn't want a bottle most of the time. Fat turns gritty after being in the bottle more than 30 minutes. Smells ok, tastes a little like vomit. Also had to deal with first ever plugged duct, what fun that was, felt like someone drove a nail into the center of my breast then poked at the wound every once in a while. Then getting looks from the in-laws when I have to go to another room to extract (they're comfortable with the word pump ) & hearing them in hushed voices talking about "why I don't just switch to formula, the baby's crying, she should be tending to him" - even though dad's there & does a damn fine job. Had a two second moment of "why not switch to formula, what's the difference at this point, it probably doesn't taste like vomit" then felt even more guilty. What good times bottle feeding is. Wah, wah, wah. Not breastfeeding starting to equal very, very tired and cranky momma. Plus side though, my Medela tubes fit the Ameda purely yours pump & it's like having a whole new pump that actually works! No longer have to turn the pump all the way up, just about 1/4 turn. & the right breast has come back online after producing nothing more than dribbles since January.

Re: 7.5 month biting at beginning of session

I am still trying to get my 16 month old to nurse
I have bad lipase. I feed it anyway in hope he will prefer fresh milk to lipase milk.

Pumping stinks. I have never been as tired and crabby as I have been in the last year because of EPing. It is better now that I just pump twice a day, but I only make a few ounces a day as a result. Did you ever see an IBLCLC?

Re: 7.5 month biting at beginning of session

Thanks, sorry for the "woe is me" negativity. Sometimes I need to vent. My breastfeeding friends are not much help as most are SAHM & their kids have never had a bottle and another has one that is on bottle strike from one bottle a day! Yesterday was a really bad day. Stuck in very confined quarters for 72 hours with people who are not my biggest fans and a teething baby sort of took its toll on me. Managed some sleep & much better now.

We have a breastfeeding group/team/company (?) not sure who they're funded by but the local Bon Secours hospital group adamantly pushes breastfeeding (why I got to hold my guy immediately after they were done sewing up the csection) and this group has bi-monthly breastfeeding support group lead by an IBCLC. We've been going since Aidan was 3 weeks & get a lot of one on one time with the woman who leads the one we attend. Two weeks ago we were able to brainstorm for an hour on possible causes and how to circumvent what's been going on. She couldn't look at his latch that day because he hasn't nursed during the day since he was about 4 months. We tried but no matter the position he would just arch his back & cry. I may schedule a session with the one at his pediatricians office but not sure the point if its just a bottle battle. I just can't compete with it. Have thought about stuffing some cotton in the tip but figured that's not safe otherwise someone else would have mentioned it. Have tried a syringe with a rag on it to get him used to slowing down but no luck there, either. Worse than offering the breast.

I don't know if I could handle trying for 16 months. I probably will, I'm so bloody minded about some things, his getting breast milk being one of these. We had a better run at it today, he would accept & attempt at a suckle but done after 5-10 seconds. What kills me is that his sign for milk is certainly recognizable now & he signs then buries his head in my chest like he wants to nurse, turns on his side, lays his head on my arm, mouth open, I offer, then we have a meltdown, biting (at this point I will take the biting at the beginning if it would mean a nursing session) or he plays for a few seconds, then wants a bottle. I realized today I haven't taken my calcium/magnesium supplement for about the same time as this strike so started taking that again, too. I've also put a kibosh on anyone but me giving the table food, it's gotten out of hand with grandparents giving him ice cream & stuff with aspartame & msg in it when there are plenty of vegetables & fruit prepared for him. I swear, give them an inch...

I did some research on the lipase & it may be linked to the increase of flax seed and addition of brewer's yeast. Something about the extra fatty acids. I did a search for "gritty breasmilk" and was directed to a thread on these boards from 2008 (or older). I also noticed it didn't happen to the milk from before the addition of the galactogogues. I probably hit myself with too many. So reduced down to the more milk tincture, rinse the pump parts after every pump & refrigerate. He sucked down the bottles too quickly today to notice if the changes helped. We're also keeping the overnight bottle in an insulated cup with ice.

I didn't realize how much of a parenting tool breastfeeding was until I couldn't use it anymore. Now I find my husband giving me his tips on how to calm Aidan overnight. Because of the EPing I'm obsessed with making sure he gets enough to eat without being overfed, fretting if I'm making enough milk, what if he hits a growth spurt? I'm only 5 bottles ahead right now. There's no more 6+ hours of sleep because I have to get up to pump instead of letting baby find the milk & go back to sleep. I'm back to clock watching & scheduling. Because the weeks I'm at work, I'm at work more than I'm home some days and pumping anyway, I didn't think it'd be that much change. Big surprise to me, especially on my weeks off! Instead of being able to just nap with him during the day, I have to make sure there's bottles ready to go if he wakes, how long was it since I last pumped, shucks, now I only get to nap for an hour or half and hour instead of 2-3. At this point I thought could probably miss a pump but that's when I got the plugged duct. And now that he's mobile, there's no pumping when it's just us during the day, I have to wait for a nap otherwise he screams that he can't play with my toys. Ugh! I had set a goal to nurse until he was done & now I'm making plans for stopping when he's 18 months & wondering if he doesn't come back to breast if I can even make it the 4 months to get him milk for one year I hate this pump so much. It's more disappointing because we made it this far with minimal problems and I had never anticipated or gave a flittering thought as to what to do if he went on a longer or possibly permanent strike. I signed up for breastfeeding, not this. But I'll pump & continue to offer, begrudgingly as it may be. So long as he's still drinking milk I guess I'll offer.

Re: 7.5 month biting at beginning of session

I am still pumping, 16 months later. It is hard with a mobile baby. I set him up with toys and he plays while I pump. Because you HAVE to pump if baby isn't nursing. You have no choice. And he is going to cry, but be matter of fact about him not playing with the pump, give him something else to distract him and get it done.

I would ban bottles in your shoes. Feed any other way. Yes, he will scream, but he will live. We went bottle free at 9 months for surgery. I only brought it back because I wanted to see if he could suck from it and to teach him that skill. Otherwise, I would not have and perhaps his sucking need would then have been met at the breast.

Re: 7.5 month biting at beginning of session

There was something about your post, Susan, that renewed my determination. Took about an hour & we were both crying but it worked. I let him have his pacifier back instead of milk before nap, it has holes on the side so while he was settling in to sleep I took a syringe of milk, poked it through one of the holes & plunged. He was apparently very hungry, took the pacifier out of his mouth, turned it around, inspecting it, back in the mouth, out for inspection, back in, then crying. Then I squirted some milk on my nipple & offered. He licked the milk but would not latch & cried. I gave hugs and comforted him each time he cried & when he calmed down I offered again. In all it took about 7-10 tries but he nursed 4 times from noon - 8 pm. The first time he did bite a little, then the second he nipped, by the third there was barely a scraping and fourth none at all. Wow I hope it stays this way. Thank you so much for your encouragement, advice & support.

Does Gavin ever latch? What did you use in place of bottles? The syringes we have are 0.5oz and makes it a little more difficult to feed when he's downing 4 oz. I think someone mentioned before a pediatrician may have a larger size. Although keeping it at 0.5oz & refilling will make him pace himself again. At two weeks into the strike somehow they were giving him 7oz/bottle. I was either in denial, not paying attention, don't know but scaled it back to between 3-4oz/bottle. I do believe we are going to have to make a permanent switch to an alternative method if we are going to make it to natural weaning time.

Could he have it baked into something like a pancake or oatmeal? Trying to manage the easiest way possible for him to get a bottle alternative overnight so his dad will actually do it & still manage to get some sleep. And nothing too complicated so my MIL or own father don't find it difficult to feed him, either. I've recently learned that if I'm not around & my wishes for Aidan are deemed too difficult or nonsensical to some of his caregivers they don't get followed. I'm slowly losing my restraint on not being "that" mother (the one with so many rules about what/how she wants her kid to be taken care of). Because of this restraint we've been through 3 nursing strikes, a month of forced EPing and a damaged nipple & some fairly disgusting things that I wouldn't eat myself have been given to him. So I guess it's time for that to end.

When is an appropriate time for night weaning? Although that would be confusing for the nights I'm at work or home. Could we reserve bottles for water only & give him milk mixed with food in some form instead while I'm away? He's a healthy child, in the average range as far as height & weight but of course concerned he'd lose weight if he got it mixed with food. Or that he'd be overfed. Hmmm, thinking.... this is probably the time to end this thread & post these questions in a new.